By Gary Abbott
USA Wrestling

PARIS, France – 2020 Olympic bronze medalist and four-time Senior World medalist Sarah Hildebrandt was strong with two wins during Tuesday morning preliminaries, advancing to the 50 kg semifinals in women’s freestyle on Tuesday night.

Hildebrandt, the No. 6 seed, opened with an impressive 10-0 technical fall over four-time African bronze medalist Ibtissem Doudou of Algeria in her opening match. Hildebrandt completed a takedown, locked up a leg lace and turned Doudou four times to seal the win in 1:34.

In the quarterfinals, Hildebrandt was in command in a 7-4 victory over 2023 World bronze medalist Ziqi Feng of China. The first period went back and forth, with Hildebrandt getting two takedowns and a reversal for a 5-4 lead. In the second period, she sealed the win with a takedown with 35 seconds on the clock for the 7-4 win.

In the semifinals, Hildebrandt will face No. 2 seed Otgonjargal Dolgorjav of Mongolia. Dolgorjav is a three-time Senior World medalist, with silver medals in 2022 and 2023. The athletes are 1-1 in recent meetings, with Dolgorjav winning the most recent battle at the 2023 World Championships.

Both U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers competing on Tuesday lost tough first round matches, Kamal Bey at 77 kg and Joe Rau at 87 kg.

Rau remains eligible for repechage going into tonight’s session. He fell to No. 3 seed Mohammadhadi Saravi of Iran by a 10-1 technical fall. The bout was tied at 1-1 at the break, but Saravi opened it up in the second period, with two takedowns, an exposure and a passivity point. Saravi was a 2021 World champion, and is a three-time World medalist.

Saravi has qualified for the semifinals, and must win there for Rau to become eligible for repechage.

In the first round, Bey was defeated by No. 3 seed Akzhol Makhmudov of Kyrgyzstan, 4-1. Bey was hit with passivity to go down 1-0, which was the score at the break. In the second period, Makhmudov forced two step outs for a 3-0 lead. Another passivity against Bey make it a 4-0 lead. Bey was able to claim a point, but could not get another score.

Makhmudov was a 2022 and 2023 World champion and a 2020 Olympic silver medalist. Bey had beaten Makhmudov in the 2017 U20 World finals.

Makhumdov was defeated in the quarterfinals by No. 6 seed Demeu Zhadrayev of Kazakhstan, which eliminated Bey from the repechage. Only athletes who lose to a finalist can compete in the repechage rounds.

The session also included the repechage in the first three weights (60 kg GR, 130 kg, 68 kg WFS). No U.S. athletes were in the repechage in Greco-Roman. At 68 kg in women’s freestyle, Amit Elor of the USA had earned a spot in Tuesday night’s finals.

The semifinals for Group 2, which includes Hildebrandt, will begin at 6:15 p.m. local time (which is 12:15 p.m. U.S. Eastern time. That will follow at 7:30 p.m. local time (1:30 p.m. ET) with the Group 1 medal matches, including Amit Elor’s gold medal match.

All of the action is live on Peacock.

OLYMPIC GAMES PARIS 2024

At Paris, France, August 6

Group 2 semifinal pairings

Women 50 kg

Vinesh (India) vs. Yusneylis Guzman (Cuba)

Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) vs. Otgonjargal Dolgorjav (Mongolia)

Greco Roman 77 kg

Nao Kusaka (Japan) vs. Malkhas Amoyan (Armenia)

Demeu Zhadrayev (Kazakhstan)  vs. Sanan Suleymanov (Azerbaijan)

Greco Roman 97 kg

Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) vs. Gabriel Rosillo (Cuba)

Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran) vs. Mohamed Gabr (Egypt)

Group 2 quarterfinal results

Women 50 kg

Vinesh (India) dec. Oksana Livach (Ukraine) 7-5

Yusneylis Guzman (Cuba) tech fall Gabija Dilyte (Lithuania) 10-0

Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) dec. Ziqi Feng (China) , 7-4

Otgonjargal Dolgorjav (Mongolia) dec. Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan) 4-3

Greco Roman 77 kg

Nao Kusaka (Japan) tech fall Aram Vardanyan (Uzbekistan)12-2

Malkhas Amoyan (Armenia) dec. Amin Kaviyaninejad (Iran) 3-0

Demeu Zhadrayev (Kazakhstan) dec. Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan) 3-1

Sanan Suleymanov (Azerbaijan) dec. Zoltan Levai (Hungary) 1-1

Greco Roman 97 kg

Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) dec. Rustam Assakalov (Uzbekistan) Dec 9-5

Gabriel Rosillo (Cuba) dec. Arvi Savolainen (Finland) 5-2

Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran) tech fall Uzur Dzhuzupbekov (Kyrgyzstan) 8-0

Mohamed Gabr (Egypt) dec. Abubakar Khaslakhanau (Neutral Athletes) 4-1

U.S. Group 2 women’s freestyle results

50 kg – Sarah Hildebrandt (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC)

WIN Ibtissem Doudou (Algeria), tech. fall 10-0. 1:34

WIN Ziqi Feng (China), 7-4

Semifinals - Vs. Otgonjargal Dolgorjav (Mongolia)

U.S. Group 2 Greco-Roman results

77 kg– Kamal Bey (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP), eliminated

LOSS Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan), 4-1

97 kg– Joe Rau (Chicago, Ill./Titan Mercury WC), still possible for repechage

LOSS Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran), tech. fall 10-1

Group 1 Medal pairings (set during repechage)

Greco-Roman 60 kg

Gold - Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) vs. Liguo Cao (China)

Bronze – Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) vs. Mehdi Mohsen Nejad (Iran)

Bronze – Se ung Ri (North Korea) vs. Raber Rodriguez Orozco (Venezuela)

Greco-Roman 130 kg

Gold - Mijain Lopez (Cuba) vs. Yasmani Acosta (Chile)

Bronze – Sabah Shariati (Azerbaijan) vs. Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran)

Bronze – Lingzhe Meng (China) vs. Abdellatif Mohamed (Egypt)

Women's freestyle 68 kg

Gold - Amit Elor (United States) vs. Meerim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan)

Bronze – Sol Gum Pak (North Korea) vs. Buse Cavusoglu Tosun (Turkey)

Bronze – Blessing Oborududu (Nigeria) vs. Nonoka Ozaki (Japan)

Group 1 U.S. Women’s freestyle results

68 kg – Amit Elor (Walnut Creek, Calif./Titan Mercury WC/NYC RTC), in finals

WIN Buse Cavusoglu Tosun (Turkey), 10-2

WIN Wiktoria Choluj (Poland), 8-0

WIN Sol Gum Pak (North Korea), tech fall 10-0

Gold Medal finals – vs. Meerim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan)

Group 1 U.S. Greco-Roman results

130 kg - Adam Coon (Fowlerville, Calif./New York AC/Cliff Keen WC), eliminated

LOSS Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran), 3-1